Deck 5: Social Learning Theory

Question 1

The single best predictor of future criminal and delinquent behavior, aside from one's own current behavior, is differential association with deviant friends.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Research has found that the association with delinquent peers, including involvement in a delinquent gang, is one of the strongest predictors of future delinquency.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

According to Akers, the effects of social structure on the behavior of individuals are mediated by variables in the social learning process.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The concept of differential association refers to both the normative and behavioral dimensions of interaction.

Question 5

Sutherland's differential association theory was revised and updated by both Cressey and Luckenbill when they brought out revised editions of Sutherland's criminology textbook following his death.

Question 6

Social learning theory proposes that criminal and delinquent behavior is learned through both instrumental conditioning and imitation.

Question 7

According to social learning theory, secondary groups and mass media are just as important in learning deviance or conformity as are the primary groups of family and friends.

Question 8

Social learning theory offers only an explanation of the motivation to commit crime rather than an explanation of conformity or inhibition of criminal behavior.

Question 9

Akers proposes that social learning shapes social structure, which in turn shapes criminal or conforming behavior.

Question 10

"Negative reinforcement" refers to aversive consequences that tend to reduce the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated.

Question 11

Social learning theory has been severely criticized for many shortcomings but has not been criticized for problems of tautology.

Question 12

According to Akers, the concept of social reinforcement refers only to rewards and punishments of social sanctions applied directly to one's behavior by others.

Question 13

Social learning theory incorporates feedback effects in which delinquent associations affect, and in turn are affected by, one's delinquent behavior.

Question 14

According to Akers, age, sex, race, and class are indications of individuals' location in the social structure that affect the behavioral, normative, and reinforcement patterns to which they are likely to be exposed in society.

Question 15

According to differential association theory, the observation of models is more important in the initial acquisition of new behavior than in the maintenance of behavior patterns that have been established.

Question 16

A major shortcoming of social learning theory is that it focuses only on social rewards and punishments and ignores nonsocial rewards and punishments.

Question 17

Social learning theory suggests that the processes by which conforming behavior patterns are acquired are very different from the ways in which deviant behavior patterns are acquired.

Question 18

Like classical deterrence theory, social learning theory suggests that negative sanctions are more important than rewards in inducing people to obey the law.

Question 19

Differential association and social learning models rest on an assumption of value consensus.

Question 20

Akers suggests that many of the effects associated with alcohol and drug use (e.g., the pleasant sensation of being "high") are learned rather than physiological.

Question 21

Variants of social learning theory have been developed by both psychologists and sociologists.

Question 22

One of the controversies surrounding social learning theory is whether it identifies the correct temporal sequence of delinquent peer associations and delinquency.

Question 23

Youths with delinquent siblings are at elevated risk for delinquency.

Question 24

Research indicates that social learning theory does a good job of explaining minor forms of deviance (e.g., problem drinking, underage smoking) but that it does a poor job of explaining serious forms of deviance (e.g., sexual assaults).

Question 25

Evaluations of Highfields (New Jersey) and Pinehills (Provo, Utah) show that both programs were more successful than the state training schools in lowering delinquent recidivism.

Question 26

In social learning theory, definitions (attitudes) favorable or unfavorable to criminal and delinquent behavior function as discriminative or cue stimuli.

Question 27

In Cressey's concept of "retroflexive reformation," the offender who attempts to help other offenders reform is likely to undergo a prosocial change of his own attitudes and behavior.

Question 28

According to social learning theory, secondary groups and mass media are not as important in influencing the individual's learning deviance or conformity as are primary groups of family and friends.

Question 29

Drug and alcohol prevention programs that stress learning social skills and how to deal with influence of peers and the media are more likely to be successful than are programs that emphasize knowledge about drugs and drug effects.

Question 30

Those associations that occur earlier (priority), last longer and occupy more of one's time (duration), take place more often (frequency), and involve others with whom one has the more important or closer relationship (intensity) will have the greater effect on behavior.

Question 31

According to research by Patterson and others, children learn conforming rather than deviant behavior when parents consistently make use of positive reward for proper behavior and impose moderately negative consequences for misbehavior.

Question 32

Findings from research on delinquent gangs run counter to what would be predicted from social learning theory.

Question 33

According to the research by D. A. Andrews and James Bonta, the cognitive-behavioral and social learning approaches to treatment of offenders, although promising, have not been shown to be any more effective than insight-oriented counseling and other nonbehavioral approaches.

Question 34

Positive peer culture and peer counseling programs have proven to be among the most effective ways to control and prevent adolescent antisocial behavior.

Question 35

Meta-analysis of research findings on programs for the treatment or prevention of crime, delinquency, and substance use show that the most effective programs are those that take a cognitive-behavioral or social learning approach.

Question 36

Research by Akers, his students, and many others has found support for social learning theory in studies of American youth but fails to find support for the theory in studies of youth in societies such as Korea, where the family authority is stronger than it is in the United States.

Question 37

Social learning theory relates primarily to, and its predictions are mainly confined to, delinquent, criminal, or deviant behavior acquired only through differential exposure to deviant subcultures, environments, and individuals.

Question 38

Evaluation of the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) program of the Oregon Social Learning Center found that the delinquents assigned by the court to the program had significantly fewer arrests and self-reported delinquencies than did boys assigned to the control group.

Question 39

Which of the following statements is found in Sutherland's theory?

A) Criminal behavior is learned when it is differentially reinforced over conforming behavior in intimate personal groups.
B) Differential associations vary in frequency and consistency.
C) A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of law.
D) A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of imitation of law violators over imitation of law abiders.
E) Differential associations and differential reinforcement are the two primary processes in learning behavior.

Question 40

The concept of definitions favorable and unfavorable to criminal behavior in social learning theory includes all of the following except:

A) neutralizing definitions
B) presumptive definitions
C) specific definitions
D) general beliefs
E) negative definitions

Question 41

Differential reinforcement is:

A) the process of attaching positive rewards to behavior
B) the balance of rewards and punishers attached to behavior
C) the balance of definitions and associations
D) the process of reinforcing rather than punishing behavior
E) the balance of law-abiding and law-violating beliefs

Question 42

Akers and his associates have conducted a number of research projects testing the social learning theory of crime and deviance, including studies of:

A) alcoholism
B) adolescent substance use
C) elderly offenders
D) professional crime
E) white-collar crime

Question 43

The empirical evidence on social learning theory as an explanation of criminal and deviant behavior provides:

A) consistent but relatively weak support for the theory
B) strong support but inconsistent findings
C) consistent and moderate support
D) consistent and strong support
E) still insufficient basis for generalization

Question 44

The major concepts in the social learning theory of criminal behavior include all of the following except:

A) differential association
B) definitions
C) differential reinforcement
D) imitation
E) differential attachment

Question 45

"Nonsocial reinforcement" refers to:

A) self-reinforcement
B) monetary reinforcement
C) material reinforcement
D) symbolic reinforcement
E) physiological reinforcement

Question 46

Akers's social learning theory represents a modification and extension of the early work of:

A) Robert Park
B) W. I. Thomas
C) George Herbert Mead
D) Edwin Sutherland
E) Henry D. McKay

Question 47

Sutherland's differential association theory proposes that crime is a result of:

A) hanging out with bad companions while living in poor neighborhoods
B) excessive exposure to media images (films, television, comic books, etc.) that portray crime as exciting and fun
C) learning, in the context of family and intimate peer groups, an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law
D) socially structured patterns of exposure to deviant role models
E) reinforcement of criminal behavior by the material and social rewards of crime

Question 48

Which of the following is not part of Sutherland's theory?

A) learning attitudes unfavorable to law violation
B) learning attitudes favorable to law violation
C) learning techniques of committing crime
D) the duration of exposure to attitudes favorable to law violation
E) learning attitudes by stimulus conditioning

Question 49

Sutherland proposes that definitions vary along each of the following dimensions except:

A) clarity
B) priority
C) frequency
D) duration
E) intensity

Question 50

Considerable support for social learning theory has been reported in studies of:

A) alcohol and drug use among adolescents
B) rape and sexual coercion among college males
C) alcohol abuse among elderly populations
D) smoking among adolescents
E) all of the above

Question 51

According to social learning theory, when delinquents rationalize their bad acts with statements such as "I can't help myself, I was born this way," they are:

A) trying to assuage the guilt they feel for their misdeeds
B) hoping to persuade justice officials to treat them more leniently
C) stating neutralizing definitions favorable to committing deviant acts when the opportunity presents itself
D) engaging in a process of negative self-labeling that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
E) accepting responsibility for their misdeeds in an immature way

Question 52

The bulk of the research on the relationship between delinquent peer associations and delinquency suggests that:

A) the onset of delinquency most often predates interaction with delinquent peers
B) interaction with delinquent peers typically predates the onset of delinquency
C) once delinquent behavior has begun, interaction with delinquent peers increases the seriousness and frequency of delinquency
D) a and c
E) b and c

Question 53

Researchers have amassed a sizable body of evidence showing the importance of parent-child interaction patterns in contributing to delinquency. Which of the following processes has not been linked to delinquency?

A) parental modeling of deviant behavior
B) ineffective parental supervision of children
C) erratic parental discipline of children
D) parental endorsement of attitudes favorable to deviance
E) all of the above are linked to delinquency

Question 54

Research on social learning theory has been supportive when conducted on:

A) peer effects
B) family effects
C) American samples
D) all of the above
E) a and c only

Question 55

The concept in Akers's SSSL (social structure-social learning) model that refers to the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals and social groups indicating their niches within the larger social structure is:

A) differential social organization
B) differential social location in primary groups
C) differential location in the social structure
D) differential association
E) differential reinforcement

Question 56

The delinquency treatment and prevention program designed by Gerald R. Patterson and his colleagues at the Oregon Social Learning Center and focusing on family management skills is known as:

A) Guided Group Interaction (GGI)
B) Adolescent Transition Program (ATP)
C) Personal, Interpersonal and Community Reinforcement (PIC-R)
D) Peer/Family Training Program (PFTP)
E) Teaching Family Model (TFM)

Question 57

Identify and define the major concepts of social learning theory, and state the central propositions in social learning theory using the concepts to explain criminal and deviant behavior.

Question 58

Evaluate social learning theory using the relevant criteria presented in Chapter 1.

Question 59

Review the research findings relevant to social learning theory, and evaluate the extent to which those findings do or do not support the theory.

Question 60

In what way is Akers's social learning theory a reformulation of Sutherland's differential association theory? What aspects, if any, of Sutherland's theory were changed, and what aspects, if any, were left the same by the revision?

Question 61

Akers claims that the social structural causes of crime and delinquency are mediated through the social learning process. Discuss and evaluate this claim, showing how he connects the social learning process to social structure.

Question 62

What policies, strategies, or programs to reduce crime and delinquency would be favored by social learning theorists? Explain why.

Question 63

Discuss how social learning theory might be applied to explain variations in crime rates by gender, race, and level of urbanization.

Question 64

Read the following case history. Then write an essay responding to the questions that follow.
Jimmy is the eldest of three children born to Jeff and Eileen Green. Up until the age of 7, Jimmy lived in a household characterized by extreme turmoil. Jeff Green was an alcoholic who frequently came home drunk and beat Eileen. Jimmy witnessed these beatings on several occasions. In fact, it was Jimmy who called the police the night that Jeff beat Eileen so badly that she was hospitalized with a concussion and broken ribs. Jeff was sentenced to prison for assault, and, upon his release, he had no further contact with the family.
After Jeff was incarcerated, Eileen took two jobs to support her family. She rarely had time for her children. When she was home, she was often hostile: She berated Jimmy as worthless and scolded him for his failure to be more helpful at home.
By the time he was 12, Jimmy stayed away from home as much as possible and was frequently truant from school to hang out on the street with his friends. He especially looked up to Bill, a boy 2 years older who taught him how to shoplift and how to break into cars to steal stereo equipment. As Jimmy got older, he engaged in many car and home burglaries. He also got into numerous fights: At the slightest insult, he would fly into a rage.
Jimmy is now 16. He has an extensive criminal record for burglary and assault.
Compare and contrast how a psychoanalytic theorist and a social learning theorist would make sense of Jimmy's behavior. What assumptions would each make about the source of Jimmy's troubles? What factors in Jimmy's life would they consider most important in understanding his behavior? What sorts of strategies might each recommend to help Jimmy quit his delinquency?

Question 65

According to the sequential and reciprocal effects expected in social learning theory, what is the most probable sequence of the following events? (1) Melissa regularly commits acts of shoplifting; (2) Melissa hangs out with a group of girls whose members define shoplifting as "fun" and who often commit shoplifting; (3) Melissa defines shoplifting as "fun." Explain and defend your choice of the sequence and how it reflects the expectations of social learning theory.

Question 66

What are the policy implications of social learning theory? In your essay do at least the following: (1) review the range of programs that has been based on social learning principles and (2) describe two programs based on or consistent with social learning principles. How effective have the programs been?

Question 67

What is G.R.E.A.T.? What are the program's goals? To what extent is it explicitly based on social learning principles? What is the evidence on how effective it is?

Question 68

How does Social Learning Theory differ from differential association theory? How does SLT build on DAT? What do you think Sutherland would say to Akers if they were to discuss their two theories?

Question 69

How do you think feedback affects learning in real-world application? Could the criminal justice system develop policies based on this aspect of SLT? If so, what policy implications could feedback have?

Question 70

Explain which source of social learning (e.g. family, peers, school) you think has the greatest impact on adolescents' behavior. How would social learning theory suggest improving delinquent behavior through this source?

Question 71

The OSLC Adolescent Transition Program is aimed toward at-risk youth. What costs and benefits do you think could arise from requiring all adolescents to participate in program?